Savage Awakening 437. Red Giant (III)

Zane pulled up the next challenge. The box glowed before his eyes:

Countdown to 2nd Challenge: 2 months

He’d get his first Shard of Destruction long before then.

He figured it wouldn’t be long. And sure enough—the chance came just two weeks later.

“It’s a tense morning, folks,” said Tyler. “That Apocalypse Horde is just hours out from making landfall.”

“Don’t let the name scare you!” said Becca. “True—it does have the potential to wipe out our kind, and we wouldn’t want to downplay that. But it’d only happen if we weren’t ready. Earth’s strongest fighters have been prepping for weeks.”

“Couldn’t agree more, Becca,” said Tyler cheerfully. “We’ve got a surprise guest joining us today, I’m excited to say. A galaxy-renowned historian here to help give us a little background on what we’re up against! Professor?”

The professor was a squat old man with a fluffy mustache. He had a large coat stuffed with pockets. He gave a friendly wave.

“Hello there! I go by Brom Bigelow—Chief Historian and professor at Dragonspire Academy. Also the author of the bestselling historical accounts—the Lives of Salazar, in 7 volumes, the Lives of Shen, in 9 volumes, and of course, the Lives of Aiwe, in 12 volumes—available at any reputable bookstore.”

He nodded quickly.

“Now, I’ve heard your plight. And it sounds bleak. True enough. But take heart, earthlings.” Brom beat his chest with a fist. His mustache quivered. “Humanity in Chaos Cycles past has faced trials just like this! We’ve always weathered the storm. You’ll find tough times make great men. Look at history—galaxy’s always in balance. When the monstrous forces pile on in unprecedented numbers… it merely heralds the rise of a hero of just such a caliber.”

Becca blinked. “That’s very reassuring, Professor.”

“On that note, let’s check in on the war situation,” said Tyler. “Things sure are heating up...”

The scene shifted to show a diagram of the war plans. Dots represented monsters and men.

“The bulk of the True Gods will go to Zane, up north. Especially the heavy hitters. Our Scryers are detecting several Tier-7 True Gods.”

“The rest of the top Rankers will take the remaining True Gods in teams,” said Becca, nodding.

“Now,” said Brom, mustache quivering thoughtfully. “I’m hearing quite a lot about this ‘Savage Sage.’”

“He's gone and made a name for himself, hasn’t he?” said Tyler proudly.

“I will admit,” said Brom. “I’m not as read-up on him as I’d like. But from what I’ve heard, he could be of quite some historical significance.”

“Well—I suppose so,” said Becca. “What’ve you heard?”

“Drips and drabs, here and there,” said Brom cheerfully. “I’ve been buried in research for the past decade or so, you see—trawling the Ender Archives. I’ve been finishing up quite a comprehensive tome on the mating habits of Ender Beetles—fascinating little things. Haven’t had much time to catch up, so to speak. My assistant sent me a few recordings, but I thought—why not see him in person?”

Tyler and Becca shared a look. “Well,” Becca ventured. “It’s very nice to have you.”

“So! This Zane.”

The professor put his hands together. “Just what caliber of talent are we speaking of? I checked the Dragonspire Rankings before coming, just briefly. #1 Rising Dragon—impressive. The First Prince and the Moon Reaper are no slouches—although… that title alone doesn’t tell us very much about where Zane ranks historically—in the history of mankind, that is.”

His mustache quivered studiously. A difficult emotion to convey—but the professor had quite an emotive mustache.

“The #1 of one era can be quite… For instance—Nim Wintercoal, #1 Rising Dragon of the 22nd millennium—widely regarded as the greatest of her generation. But that was a weak era. She only made Grand Elder—a great achievement, mind you! But it’s no Matriarch. On the other hand—the 17th century’s Nameless King—now there was a super-talent. Patriarch Azure Flame would be #1 in any other era, but he had the misfortune to be born in the same generation!”

“We’re not very familiar with the history, Professor,” said Becca quickly. “We’d be hard-pressed to tell you how he’d compare—perhaps it’s better if you saw for yourself.”

“Lead on.”

Brom pulled out a notepad from one of the bigger pockets in his coat.

“Great!” Tyler beamed. “Let’s check in on how we’re doing—first up, the Southern Front! Now there’s a sight. Nearly every top ranker’s there—except Zane, of course. All in a few hundred miles of space… It’ll showcase some of Earth’s best.”

The scene shifted.

“Speaking of the Rising Dragon rankings,” said Tyler. “That man right there just made his debut in the top 15! Well-deserved, too.”

The scene resolved to show Jason and D’Angelo fighting side-by-side, holding off a horde of Porcupine Lions.

That horde included two early True Gods.

“Do my eyes deceive me,” said Brom. “Or is that an early Minor God, fighting up near a full power level?”

His mustache quivered with interest.

“Yup!” said Tyler. “He’s Zane’s brother, actually. One of Earth’s best.”

Brom scribbled some notes. “That Skill—a System-only Skill, if I’m not mistaken, Nosferatu Fang…”

They all watched as Jason tore through a crowd of half-step True Gods. Porcupine spikes went flying.

“I expect that fellow won’t stop at just rank 15,” said Brom. By my estimation, he’s at least a Tier II talent.”

“Tier II?” said Becca.

“It’s the galactic standard talent classification—developed by myself, incidentally,” Brom said. “If a man occurs a handful of times every thousand years, there’s a Tier III talent. A handful every million makes Tier II. Then, of course, there are those that come around just a handful of times every Chaos Cycle. I call them ‘Tier I.’ The Nameless King makes for a prime example.”

His mustache quivered. “By the sounds of it, that Zane of yours might just have that same potential. I don’t say that lightly, mind you! Though I’d need to see for myself, of course. Why that man beside Jason, in the suit—what was his name?”

“D’Angelo Hall! Another of our top Rankers,” said Tyler.

“He’s bought a great deal of Raindragon Bloodline with his Credits,” said Becca. “His reflexes have gotten so fast I don’t think he’s taken a single hit since he left that event challenge.”

They watched as D’Angelo rampaged across the scene, leaving thunder in his wake.

“Jason looks like he could be in some trouble,” said Tyler suddenly.

It was true—Jason was taking heavy fire. A True God Porcupine Lion, the pride of the pack, slowly pressed him back.

Then Jason snarled and changed tack. In a blink, he was mowing down dozens of smaller Lions—half-step True Gods which fell in a single stroke to his scythe.

His blood aura only grew stronger.

“That right there’s what we call a ‘Berserker-Class Skill,’” said Brom, nodding wisely. “Beautiful use of it—though some tradeoffs must be taken into account! You can stack borrowed power quite high—though at a certain point, the mind does begin to unravel…”

“So far he’s been keeping it in,” said Becca.

Then Jason turned on the True God Lion, wild-eyed, and laughed.

He went at it head-on.

Blood fountained with every scythe slash.

The beast had gotten ahold of him; it kept shooting spines—but Jason shredded it just as fast.

Only every time Jason stabbed, he drained a pint of life. And all the while, his teeth were bared in that grin.

“Goodness!” said Brom.

“The Walker brothers—they’ve got an animal inside, alright,” said Tyler, looking concerned.

By the time Jason finished the monster, he had to be nearing Critical Health.

Then he turned to the other fight. D’Angelo was just about hanging on, kiting the other Lion—

Jason joined in, and the two of them skewered the beast. It went quickly after that.

Jason sank one last scythe in; his eyes went crimson. He howled in triumph as the True God fell.

Then he looked straight at D’Angelo, breathing heavily.

“…Jason?”

Jason attacked.

D’Angelo blitzed out of the way; that scythe would’ve taken his head off.

“Jason!” he shouted.

His staff ran with an atmosphere’s worth of blue lightning. He cracked Jason over the head with it—thunder cracked across the battlefield; Jason’s head snapped back.

Then he shook his head, blinked. “Oh.”

He looked around, grinned. “My bad.”

The commentators breathed a sigh of relief.

“Who’s that?” said Brom. “That burly fellow closing in…”

“Emeka Eze,” said Becca. “Earth’s #2.”

“He’s not happy.”

Jason arched a brow. “Looking for something, your highness?”

“Are you a man, or an animal?” said Eze, eyes narrowed. “Control yourself. Sooner or later, your antics will cost us a life.”

He blasted off.

Jason snorted. “Who put a stick up his ass?”

“…Right!” said Tyler, clearing his throat. “What do you say we check up on Zane?”

“That’s a great idea,” said Becca quickly.

“I must say—after seeing the caliber of your Ur-Planet, it’s only gotten me more eager to get a look at him. As it happens, this power stage—Minor God—is a great time to benchmark one’s talent. How powerful a man is here is a strong predictor of his greatness in the future… a Tier II talent, like Jason, might be able to clear the weakest True Gods. A Tier I talent might take down five—maybe ten of the kind at once—even a few with three hundred-thousand-year Bones!”

“…Is there even better?” said Becca.

“It’s certainly possible,” said the professor. “Though it’s very rare. This gets to the all-timers we spoke of earlier. The Nameless King’s quite close, in our era... though for an exemplar, there’s no better than the Sword Saint Salazar, hegemon of the 2nd Chaos Cycle—as chronicled in the bestselling Lives of Salazar. It’s said he once survived an all-out blow from Malzareth itself! I’d wager at early Minor God… he might’ve been able to destroy a True God with Tier 7 Laws, if he was willing to self-destruct to do it—but still! There’s greatness for you.”

Brom chuckled.

Tyler and Becca gave each other another look.

“I think you’ll like Zane, professor,” said Becca at last.

The scene changed once more.